Open Threads

I defended Dick Durbin, and I still, to this day, do not think he was guilty of anything more than rhetorical over-reach. If you did read those reports, you wouldn’t think those acts were committed by Americans, but a comparison to Hitler and Pol Pot was just silly. As such, I thought these caustic ads were over the top. This, however, is just plain stupid:

Move America Forward, a group that supports the U.S. military and wants to eject the United Nations from the United States, is currently running broadcast ads criticizing Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, for comparing U.S. troops at Guantanamo Bay to Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or mad regimes like Pol Pot’s.

“But these aren’t the faces of torturers, the ad says: “They’re the heroic men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces. They’re our sons and daughters fighting for the cause of freedom around the world. Support our troops, at MoveAmericaForward.com.”

Durbin’s office is trying to silence Move America Forward, the group says, by hinting to an Illinois newspaper (the Northwest Herald of Crystal Lake) that the Internal Revenue Service should audit Move America Forward.

Someone from Durbin’s office was quoted as telling the newspaper – in connection with Move America Forward — “Have you ever seen that H&R Block commercial where the guy leans in and says, ‘I see an audit’?”

“For the office of a United States senator to threaten reprisals from the IRS against an organization that is supporting our troops in harm’s way is absolutely reprehensible,” said Mark Washburn, executive director of Move America Forward.

Now granted, it was just a flip remark, and the folks at Move America Forward are going to milk it for all it is worth, but was it really smart for the Durbin staffer to make the remark at all? And on record?

Now This Was StupidPost + Comments (24)

Seems like the Brits think they have some leads in the investigation:

Authorities announced today that police had raided five homes in the northern city of Leeds and said the action was “directly connected” to last Thursday’s terrorist bombings of subway trains and a bus.

The raids, which started at around 6.30 a.m., come five days after terrorists detonated four bombs during the morning rush-hour on July 7, killing at least 52 people and leaving hundreds more injured in London’s worst day of terror in decades.

There were no immediate reports of arrests.

Later today, the police closed a railway station in Luton, about 25 minutes north of London, to examine a car suspected of ties to the bombings. No arrests were announced so far and no other details were immediately available.

Also today, U.S. officials rescinded an order that ordered about 10,000 military personnel personnel stationed at air bases in eastern England to avoid London following the terror attacks.

The Scotsman has more:

THE BODY of a suspected bomber thought to have been responsible for the blast on a bus last week in London was identified, according to reports quoting unidentified sources.

The person’s name was not reported and Scotland Yard refused to confirm the claims, however police carried out a series of raids across Leeds today based on this apparent information, the sources said.

Police hunting the London bombers were led to six properties in the West Yorkshire area – including Leeds – as part of an “intelligence-led operation”, described by Sir Ian Blair, commissioner of the Metorpolian Police, as “significant”.

Go get them.

Progress in London Bombings InvestigationPost + Comments (2)

Yesterday, I linked to a piece in the National Review that advanced the following point:

Northeastern states, which make up the geographical heart of liberalism, are considerably wealthier than the upstart Sunbelt states, and that

Painting a False PicturePost + Comments (26)

The NY Times comes out swinging:

Nearly two years after stating that any administration official found to have been involved in leaking the name of an undercover C.I.A. officer would be fired, and assuring that Karl Rove and other senior aides to President Bush had nothing to do with the disclosure, the White House refused on Monday to answer any questions about new evidence of Mr. Rove’s role in the matter.

With the White House silent, Democrats rushed in, demanding that the administration provide a full account of any involvement by Mr. Rove, one of the president’s closest advisers, turning up the political heat in the case and leaving some Republicans worried about the possible effects on Mr. Bush’s second-term agenda.

But the story ends with a balanced ‘fizzle’:

Based on the e-mail message, Mr. Rove’s disclosures are not criminal, said Bruce S. Sanford, a Washington lawyer who helped write the law and submitted a brief on behalf of several news organizations concerning it to the appeals court hearing the case of Mr. Cooper and Judith Miller, a reporter for The New York Times. Ms. Miller has gone to jail rather than disclose her source.

“It is clear that Karl Rove’s conversation with Matt Cooper does not fall into that category” of criminal conduct, Mr. Sanford said. “That’s not ‘knowing.’ It doesn’t even come close.”

There has been some dispute, moreover, about just how secret a secret agent Ms. Wilson was.

“She had a desk job in Langley,” said Ms. Toensing, who also signed the supporting brief in the appeals court, referring to the C.I.A.’s headquarters. “When you want someone in deep cover, they don’t go back and forth to Langley.”

The predictable outcome is another blast of anger from both sides. Personally, I will stick with Tom Maguire’s analyses (the most recent installments are here and here), although not necessarily his conclusions.

Plame till you PukePost + Comments (36)

Fabulous:

Semi-regular USA Today columnist Julianne Malveaux said Monday that President Bush is “a terrorist” and that America is “a terrorist nation.”

In an interview that began with Malveaux accusing U.S. troops of “beating” terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, the controversial author and economist told ABC Radio host Sean Hannity:

“C’mon now, Sean,” Malveaux told Hannity. “We are terrorists.”

Asked point-blank if the U.S. was a “terrorist nation,” Malveaux shot back: “Oh, Absolutely.”

In the next breath she added, “The chickens have come home to roost,” in an apparent reference to the 9/11 attacks.

“You know they weren’t there. I know they weren’t there,” she told Hannity. “George W. Bush is evil. He is a terrorist. He is evil. He is arrogant. And he is out of control.”

Such a treat, that woman is. I am going to bed.

*** Update ***

Some of you don’t know who Malveaux is- here is what I can tell you from memory, and I will look into it in the AM. On second thought, no I won’t. I have wasted enough time on her. Here is a brief bio from memory that I put in the comments:

Julianne Malveaux is just another third-rate mind with a first-rate education (she has multiple advanced degrees, including a Doctorate, if I remember correctly). She also is a columnist (or used to be) for USA Today, and appears (or used to) on televison roundtables as one of the talking heads for the left.

She has a habit of showing up every year or so, shitting in the well of public discourse, and then mercifully, just as quickly as she came, disappearing into relative obscurity.

Most notably, she wished that Clarence Thomas would die young, I believe she was a lead singer in the Blame America chorus post 9/11, and I remember her being involved (loudly, as always) regarding the pledge of allegiance at some point in time (she was against it, what with the US being all racist and all that). She is also an advocate for slavery reparations, and, in general, an oafish loudmouth on all things race- and not, as some would lead you to believe, someone who is really concerned with improving race relations, but rather, someone who has found it profitable to be outrageous.

Overall, a first rate ass.

And Then You Have ThisPost + Comments (53)

So the Republican party is hemorrhaging moderate and independent support. This will probably help a lot:

U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn challenged the accuracy of Terri Schiavo’s autopsy Thursday, saying he has a copy of the Florida woman’s medical file.

Coburn’s comments came during the taping of a television show for the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority in Oklahoma City. He was responding to questions from a panel of journalists, including a Tulsa World reporter and Terri Watkins, a reporter from KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City.

“I have on my desk a complete medical file of Terri Schiavo, and I would challenge the accuracy of many of the statements by people involved in that case in terms of her medical condition, and I would also challenge some of the autopsy findings based on what I have on my desk in Washington,” Coburn said.

Coburn is an obstetrician and gynecologist and is not trained as a pathologist or medical examiner. He said he had reviewed Schiavo’s medical file but had not examined her body…

If remote diagnosis is good enough for Bill Frist, it has to be good enough for Tom Coburn.

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Driving Me InsanePost + Comments (14)

I initially read this Orlando Sentinel story to see the context of this quote by Barack Obama:

The most provocative question was the first.

“I see a Democratic Party afraid to say they’re Democrats, who voted for the war in Iraq and voted for tax cuts for the wealthy,” said Glenn Anderson of Orlando. “Why should I remain a Democrat?”

It was a tough question. But Nelson and Obama tried to answer it.

“The Democrats at times have lost their way,” conceded Obama. “We are trying to decide what our core values are.”

But then my attention turned quickly to this doozy:

Nelson, 62, who faces a tough re-election campaign next year against U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Sarasota, returned the favor, calling Obama “a rock star who carries himself with dignity and humility and is so smart.”

Attention Orlando Sentinel editors: writer Sandra Mathers is clearly on the brown acid. Qunnipiac:

U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, still carrying baggage from her controversial role in the 2000 Presidential vote count, trails Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson 50 – 38 percent in an early look at the 2006 Florida Senate race, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Republicans back Harris 72

What Race is She Talking ABout?Post + Comments (15)